STW Zwift Race Series 3 – Winter

Cheers all. Got that.

Just realised that my FTP bump puts me into Cat B 🙁 no way I will be able to compete with the Bs though!

Had a practice at racing this morning, remember now why I’ve only ever done 2 previously.

I’m blaming heavy legs from yesterday’s quatch quest and not giving myself long enough to warm up for my poor performance.

Think Tuesday could be interesting!

Robbo, can you update my vital statistics please.

76kg and 258w

Cheers dood

I’ve just discovered my trainer bike’s chain and cassette have done 9500(virtual)km! No wonder the shifting has gone to pot and there were horrible noises coming from the bike. Hopefully the gravel bike will suffice for Tuesday (giving it a run out this evening as a test). Not ideal preparation.

I’ll see if I can make this first race..not 100% sure ATM..

My figures may as well stay the same – weight is the same (I mean, it varies by 3kg per day sometimes! But the average is still the same)
FTP is PROBABLY lower, but I haven’t done an FTP test so no way of telling!

DrP

Damn! Just did a ramp test and got 304W FTP (ignore this please Robbo and use the other value). 😭😭😭 gutted. Not convinced I got everything out though, didn’t even attempt the 440W block and could definitely have done part of it. Looks like I may have failed the 420W block as well (lesson, don’t relax till past the line.

Gravel bike is so quiet and nice however still have an odd squeak. Only things the same are trainer and pedals, hmm.

This reminds me to do a recce ride on the course tomorrow, a few laps to learn the hills etc as I always do the Jungle loop as part of a bigger one so can never remember it!

It is pretty much hill, bridge, downhill but not sure how the race will unfold. A few places to attack or catch people out.

For anyone new to the series it will start of fast and hard (like a normal Zwift race).

Nixie – I won’t count that one don’t worry. My ramp test earlier I felt like I should have gone another 10-20 seconds. HR hadn’t got to previous peaks.

How long roughly will the race tomorrow take?

Last 3 laps I did on road bikes (which I think predates the rolling resistance changes) was 44 minutes @ 4.1 Wpkg. On that basis I’m expecting 50ish minutes for myself.

Hello All

Spreadsheet is now updated with the handicaps for tomorrows race. If you are new to the series the handicap works by adding your handicap time to your finishing time in zwift but I do all of this in the results spreadsheet afterwards. The points are then awarded based on the handicap times. If you think I have made a mistake with your handicap time let me know. The first course is still more dependent on outright power rather than climbing so the higher power riders will have a higher handicap.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1QPxMGqez2VsN-4mD17f90t06NzqSLMMoGe4cUEK1E3U/edit#gid=0

It is a normal zwift race start so as soon as the clock hits zero it will be a mad rush to establish your position on the road.

With regards to the categories I have done the categories based on the FTP and the weight you have provided so it may be different to your ZP category. The categories only come in for the GC so if you are on the cusp of moving up a cat or down a cat and would prefer to race in the other cat let me know (although I’m not going to let a Cat A race in a Cat C!). I don’t want it to be demotivating and I am happy to be flexible. I have messaged a few people who are on the cusp and most were up for the challenge of moving up to the next cat.

This is where the categories I have used are based on: https://www.zwift.com/news/12012-zwift-how-to-choose-your-cycling-race-category

Finally the event will force you onto a MTB at the start. If you don’t have a MTB in your stable then the Zwift MTB will be assigned to you. If you have some drops you can always purchase one. Some info here from Zwift Insider on the different MTBs but I really don’t think there is much difference between them! https://zwiftinsider.com/updated-mtb/

Also if you are new to the series wear whichever jersey you want – some people wear the bumblebee jersey as we started wearing that but go for something identifiable to yourself.

I think it will take between 45mins to an hour depending on how the bikes roll etc based on a recent TTT on the same route.

Good luck all – looking forward to it.

Oh and is there someone with the name Bramwell on here? They are signed up to the race series but I don’t have any stats for them or recognise them with a forum username! Cheers

robbo1234biking

Oh and is there someone with the name Bramwell on here?

Dunno, but I’ve got a jar of his pickle in the fridge!!

Thanks everyone for the updates. Cut of is this evening in case you arent sure what day it is post xmas (it is a Sunday today!).

Aargh! completely missed this. Guess I’ll just have to try harder to offset the xmas weight gain. Also got a new more accurate turbo so fully expecting my FTP to go down too 🙁

Dunno, but I’ve got a jar of his pickle in the fridge!!

Is there a lorena bobbitt joke in there too? Certainly there should be one somewhere but I can’t find it.

@dazh still time to update if you can let me know what the new figures are.

@dazh still time to update if you can let me know what the new figures are.

Cheers Robbo, new figures after an ftp test are 81kg and 271w (was using a turbo muin before which are notorious for over-reporting so expected a bigger ftp drop!).

Quick scan of peoples numbers on Zwiftpower (https://zwiftpower.com/events.php?zid=1313968) and the handicaps throw up some slightly strange handicaps. Not sure if this is the handicap method, the length of races people do on Zwift and how close they get to an FTP test or how up to date the FTP numbers are.

oopnorth gives v7fmp 1:30 on handicap despite almost identical power numbers and v7fmp being lighter

Phil gives me 1 minute for his extra 35 W, I give a lighter Kirky72 50 seconds for my extra 7w

Don’t mean it in a negative way, it was great fun last time, appreciate all the organisation. Looking forward to desperately trying to cling on to the front group up the climb…

Hi Yanboss – I think it is a peculiarity of the course that is being raced tomorrow. The way the handicap is calculated has stayed the same but the course has no flat at all – it is either up or down basically! The times are a little slower due to rolling resistance. High power, coupled with a high weight on the downhills will prob be the best combo for tomorrow.

I don’t know how much people have in ZP as well as not everyone is in there but I have benchmarked the lap times against a few race results etc.

Hopefully it all works OK!

dangeourbrain

Is there a lorena bobbitt joke in there too? Certainly there should be one somewhere but I can’t find it.

No sign of gherkins, dangeourbrain….!

Well, I think I am about as race ready (Zwift-wise) as I will every be. I have treated myself to a Spesh Epic, (although have since seen that the Trek is a bit quicker).
I have also reset my power numbers (5s, 1min etc.) that show up in Zwift as well as the power curve.
When I first started doing group rides a year or more ago (the initial weeksy ones) I kept up rather better than I expected to. After a bit of re-calibrating & head-scratching they seemed to revert back to numbers I recognised a bit more! But that left me with a massively inflated power curve & numbers, which I think are only used as a visual guide. But anyway – they should be set during tomorrow’s race, so will hopefully be nearer reality for me.

One other thing – not wanting to teach people to suck eggs, but if you are finding it uncomfortable on the turbo trainer for any length of time, have a proper think about whether you need to adjust your saddle position. I don’t find the races particularly uncomfortable as I’m constantly out of the saddle to smash-out my 250W mega-sprint power, but on workouts and other rides, I found it really uncomfortable after 30 mins or so.
A few rides back I realised I was sitting too high & my saddle was a bit too nose down so spent 5 mins adjusting it & am now in a state of saddle bliss.
I thought it might jog a few people into considering it, if I mentioned it.

Signed on for tomorrow, looking forward to it – only the 3rd race I’ve done on Zwift so it should be interesting…

@stumpy01 Great point well made. I was finding the same thing but due to the pain of adjusting the saddle on my turbo bike (I-Beam!) I put it off and put it off. It’s so much better now I’ve finally got around to playing with it.

Hopefully it all works OK!

@robbo1234biking I think it will, it has previously certainly.

I was looking at the [my] handicaps scratching my head and thinking they seemed rather at odds with the previous season(s). After a little cogitation it looks like they’ve landed me slap in the middle of the folks I was actually riding against in practice last season* rather than those I was only really anywhere near on paper which is probably a good thing and requires less heroics on my part to try make a few minutes on people I’m genuinely well matched to.

Unfortunately looking at those I’m now bunched with it does seem like my recent diet of Christmas cake, pies, chocolate and beer has moved me into the pointy end of the points race instead.

I can’t believe I need to loose my Xmas poundage so I can be uncompetitive again! 😂

*bout of melodramatic insignificant near deathness excepted.

@robbo124biking my ftp is 258w and my weight 71.5kg after I did a ramp test a couple of weeks ago, I did post at the time but probably on the previous series thread, sadly no longer an A cat 🙂

Cheers

Mark

HI Mark – stats and handicap updated.

Sort of looking forward to it! Hopefully I don’t have to take a minute or so sit down after the start like the last race.

Talking of comfort on the turbo, best thing I did was put a turntable under the front wheel. Made a massive difference to me, the bike moving around more.

Looking forwards to bringing up the rear in Cat B!

Talking of comfort on the turbo, best thing I did was put a turntable under the front wheel.

I can’t imagine a DJ bike being well suited to zwift.

Did the short route option TDZ stage 1 @ Six Train at 1700 on the Zwift MTB, first time I’ve tried to go near race pace in weeks, my god that was a melting wake up call for tomorrow… Mummmyyy!

Looking forwards to bringing up the rear in Cat B!

I fully expect to be fighting you hard for that position!

@robbo124biking

New ftp of 242 at 66kg for me. Has dropped like a stone in last 3 months.

Can you send me an invite to the event tomorrow please.

My days of being a front runner are truelly behind me unfortunately, however will give it a bash tomorrow and see how I get on.

Btw..some chap from stw contacted me about a prize for 1st series wanting my address, but nothing ever arrived. Did others get anything?

@tpbiker I will update your handicap. Check your PMs – I have sent the sign in information there. There are links for the races. Click on those and they will take you to a sign on link in either the companion app or on the Zwift website.

nixie

I put it off and put it off. It’s so much better now I’ve finally got around to playing with it.

Great! You’ll be even quicker now 😉

Similar to nobodyofthegoat, I thought a spin with a few thousand others on the TDZ London course would be okay, find a steady paced group and draft my way round for a quicker than solo 40km or so. Alternatively I could get a bit excited and bury myself for an hour… I’m in bits now.

That’s got my excuse in early for a tired performance in Race 1 tomorrow.

Wow – not only has Furrybreeks Maclean cornered the market in usernames, he/she must be one hell of a rider with that handicap 🤣

Is Furrybreeks Dan Evans, Chris Opie or another alien that is part of the STW Strava club? 😆

Great! You’ll be even quicker now 😉

I’ve been working on negating that by drinking more beer.

Has anyone noticed though that as you sit up off the bars or go back into them you generate a power spike?

Has anyone noticed though that as you sit up off the bars or go back into them you generate a power spike

Just to check I’m reading this right, your race tip for us is “do crunches whilst pedaling”?

😆 secretly killing your core.

Only noticed it while doing workouts as moving between hands on the bar and hands off confuses ERG mode for a second or two.

@robbo1234biking a 6 week series, starting on Tuesday 5th Jan 2021? Its like you and Boris colluded!

Good timing 😀